Suited for small form factor motherboards

Feb 12, 2010 11:55 GMT  ·  By

Graphics cards have been evolving rapidly but, at the same time, they saw the need for better interfaces because the ones available were either too performance-restrictive or did not supply enough power. As such, graphics cards released nowadays typically operate on the PCI Express x16. Still, it seems that at least one company is seeking to make decent graphics available to the PCIe x1 interface. This manufacturer is the Taiwanese company Albatron, which has just unveiled its second PCIe x1 VGA card, namely the Albatron G210-512 PCIe x1.

The previous PCIe x1 VGA card that the Taiwanese company released was the GeForce 9500GT PCIE-1X, back in 2009, but the G210-512 PCIe x1 is its first such device to boast DirectX 10.1. This model, featuring a memory interface of 64 bits and 512MB DDR2, has the 40nm GT218 graphics processing unit (GPU) running at 589MHz. Furthermore, the shader and memory clocks are set at 1402MHz and 500Mhz, respectively. Other specs include 16 processing cores and a passive cooling module for heat dissipation.

This card, compared to standard models, will better serve small form factor motherboards, thanks to its low profile design, and is focused on multi-display applications. The 512MB/s bandwidth of the PCIe x1 is more than enough for fluent Blu-ray playback, as well as for any operations involving image processing, high-definition media and 3D. The device is even built with high-quality capacitors and a large heatsink, which provides both efficiency and stability.

The Albatron G210-512 PCIe x1 uses a green design and all of the materials used in the product's construction, according to the company, meet the RoHS specifications, which is the latest EU rule that seeks to reduce the damage that electronics can inflict upon humans and animals. Unfortunately, the hardware manufacturer has not disclosed any pricing information.